Upon Midnight Dreams
by DefiantAngel96
Summary: Life in Konoha goes on with or without all its comrades. It would be selfish of Sakura to sit back and just wait for her boys to be home. They left willingly, they are not dead. Through the seasons a little girl grows to be a woman. The village hidden in the leaves prides itself on it's fabulous temperate climate, Sakura is the only one to stay and grow at home, where she belongs.
1. Chapter 1

Sakura sighed as she removed all the unopened letters from the massive bouquets of flowers. Throwing them into the wastebasket, she almost robotically unwound the ribbon of the bouquets closest to her, her face as blank as her mind. This is what she always did when she came home from her shifts at the hospital. At twenty years old, she had finally blossomed into a beautiful young woman and had found herself quite alot of.. admirers. In the beginning she'd get annoyed and angrily throw the flowers away until Shizune quietly suggested that she donate them. Sakura remembered that day two weeks ago clearly. Sakura had just got out of a nine hour intense surgery on a toddler that was poisoned on the outskirts of fire country but it was no use he came to Konoha entirely too late there was nothing she could do. But like the idiot she always was she tried anyway and just couldn't let go kept pumping chakra not even registering her hands blistering. Only the legendary Tsunade could remove her from the operating table. She was dazedly walking down the hospital hallway towards her office, when her assistant Suki, timidly approached her. "Erm Ha-Harun-no-sama.."the mousy girl stuttered trying feebly to stop her from entering the office. "You should really just.." the sentence died as Sakura opened the door to her office not bothering to acknowledge whatever the nurse was trying to say. At the sight of all the roses and cherry blossoms Sakura growled and slammed the door shut the resonating crack making the already shivering redhead next to her jump. She needed a coffee. Everyone stayed out of the pinkette's way as she stomped to the break room. Seeing the angry glint of emerald all the occupants save for Shizune quickly fled the room not wanting to irritate the doctor further. Sakura grabbed a disposable cup and headed towards the coffee. Right before her still burned, slender fingers wrapped around the handle of her would be drink, Shizune poured green tea in her cup instead. "You know the coffee is terrible here and will only give you headaches." Shizune tutted. a smile tugged at the corner of Sakura's previously scowled lips. Sliding into the chair across the poison mistress Sakura looked at her mentor. Shizune grabbed both of the pinkette's hands and started healing them patiently waiting for Sakura to speak. Sakura visibly relaxed and sighed closing her eyes in the process. "Shizune we need to really up security around here! Again there is currently Yamanaka flowers' entire stock in my office!" Giggling a little, Shizune asked, "Well what are you gonna do with all the flowers? Are you still throwing them away Sakura-chan? It seems so wasteful.." Shizune trailed off not wanting to offend the young spitfire. "Well what exactly do you suggest I do with them Shizune?" the pinkette muttered as the exhaustion took hold of her. "Well you could always give them away." Sighing Sakura internally agreed that Shizune had a good idea. With her hands now fully healed she took a sip of her tea and mulled over where she was going to donate them. Pricking her finger on a thorn brings Sakura back to the present. Seeing she got through almost all of the flowers she hurried her pace and quickly finished off the rest of the flowers. then she gathered them up splitting them into two piles making sure to put the yellow roses to the side to save for her favorite. Checking the time and noticing it's nearing 3am she slipped on her ninja sandals grabbing the first basket and left in a swirl of leaves.


	2. Chapter 2

She looked like an angel. Her white doctor's coat danced in the breeze adding to the illusion that she was an angel. Upon closer inspection you could see faded brown blotches near her wrists, blood. Blood of the people she could not save. However most people never inspect her too closely. In her left hand held a basket filled with flowers. She stood erect and still just as she was taught, a long pink braid swaying with the breeze the only movement. Suddenly a cloud shifts in front of the moon temporarily cutting off his sight of her. And when the cloud passes and the moon once again showers Konoha in light, the pinkette he was watching was gone.

Sakura ran along the rooftops until she landed in the section of Konoha she was most familiar with. Her posture slightly less regulation now that she didn't have eyes watching her. She didn't understand Ino's obsession with being in the limelight... She didn't even like to be in the day light! During the day there were just so many people. And Konoha loves it's resident cherry blossom, *che! That's cause you never leave for crazy amounts of time! Inner Sakura snorted in the girl's mind. Sakura sighed knowing that Inner didn't mean that as a compliment. This argument happens every chance Inner can. And the argument always ends the exact same way. "Shut up Inner you're annoying. You know we are needed here. This is our home." Sakura quietly placed a flower at each grave as she let her words sink into her second persona. "This is home.." she reminded herself.. then why doesn't it feel like it?


	3. Chapter 3

It was common knowledge that Tsunade hated meetings. They were long, tedious, and always were accompanied by mountains of paperwork. In addition, alcohol was never permitted. It was going on hour six and neither side could come up with a solution. It wasn't even a direct matter of konoha! It was a dispute between two neighbouring fire country villages. A bridge recently collapsed between their villages and neither thought they should pay for the reconstruction. It was ridiculous honestly. Tsunade started to drown out the argument a few hours ago, otherwise she wasn't sure the meeting hall in the daimyo's palace would survive. Shizune nudged Tsunade under the table. Tsunade catsed a bored look to her right, her head in her left palm. Shizune pulled small vials out of her wide sleeves. She slipped one into Tsunade's right hand which was tapping boredly on her knee. With a curious look at her first apprentice, tsunade discreetly examined the liquid. Identifying it immediately she sent a shocked look at shizune before picking her head up and straightening her posture.

A few hours later a not so sober tsunade had enough of the petty bickering between the idiotic village heads. Slamming her palms flat against the table with an audible crack she stood up immediately gaining the attention of the room. Shizune looked on with worried eyes as tsunade took control of the situation. With gleaming eyes tsunade announced that she is going to flip a coin and they are going to call a side whichever side it lands on that village is exempt from any payments towards the damn bridge. Ten minutes later the meeting was over, and before the heads left Tsunade snorted derisively and told them they should have just split the bill and been done with it. The heads were stunned and shamed and with that Tsunade and Shizune brushed passed them leaving, both anxious to get home.


	4. Chapter 4

Loud laughing and small chuckles started to erupt between the two women sitting in the back of the tavern.

"I still cannot believe you slipped me sake during a sacred traditional bitchfest!" Cackled a thoroughly inebriated Tsunade. "Welll you were behaving so good, no one was knocked unconscious and all furniture was intact, I just thought, well that you earned it." Shizune awkwardly trailed off, sensing the sudden quietness. Tsunade was staring at something behind Shizune.

Shizune turned around. Behind her red eyes peeked out behind an all black cloak. Only it wasn't an all black cloak. It was a long black cloak with red clouds on it.

"Before you ladies attack, I have something to show you."

Itachi uchiha smoothly sat in the booth next to Shizune,as if they were old friends and he wasn't the most wanted criminal in fire country. As if they weren't on completely opposite sides of justice.

"You have thirty seconds to start talking Uchiha." Tsunade growled, hiding her surprise and fear of the S class ninja with anger.


	5. Chapter 5

"Shikamaru!" A blue eyed blonde shouted as she saw her friend get cut by Asuma's clone. Shikamaru ducks days he missed a kick aimed at his throat. Flipping backwards twice he growled. It would be a hell of a lot easier if he could see but his father worried he was getting dull and spoke with his sensei about upping his training. It didn't help that his father's raccoon summons oversaw his training. It was so troublesome being the heir. Plus Shikamaru was distracked, his scorpions overheard whispers of arranged marriage contracts and what's best for his clan. He teleported underground to give himself a minute to get his head straight.

In the comfort of the darkness and safety of the earth shikamaru tried to rid his worries. He had a funny feeling that the reason only Ino trained with him and Asuma was because their parents negotiated it. But he thought of a wife it wasn't blue eyes that he pictured. Suddenly he was yanked by his hair above the ground. Finding himself above ground, the sun in his face, Kunai at his throat, Shikamaru sighed and muttered "troublesome."

When shikamaru was younger he would try to bribe the raccoons with keeping quiet about his mistakes during his training and some he had managed to convince with some rare berries he found in the Nara forest but judging by the silver patch on the mammal babysitter he knew it was hopeless Master Juju was his father's oldest and most loyal summon. He knew tonight his father's punishment was going to be severe.

He decided not to stick around for Ino's training and ignored the flash of hurt in her eyes as he left the training grounds to watch the sunset before going home.


	6. Chapter 6

Sakura was calmly walking to her office to file away some paperwork before finally heading home. She was exhausted, but that's the usual for her. Tomorrow was an important day and she wanted to get up earlier than usual so she had time to fulfill what she felt she needed to do. Lost in her thoughts the pinkette opened her office door and was immediately hit by the stench of blood.

…...…...

Itachi smoothly sat next to Shizune as he handed a sealed scroll to the Great Tsunade. Tsunade studied the scroll closely but did not move to open it. It had the seal of the monkey. A very surprised and perplexed Tsunade shot a look at Shizune before her honey eyes rested upon the Uchiha's stress marks not daring to look into his eyes.

"Rest easy kunoichi I am not here to harm you, I am just delivering a scroll to the great hokage of the leaf village."

"From who is this message from? And why are you the one delivering this message?" Barked Tsunade offended at being called kunoichi, she hasn't been showed such disrespect in DECADES!

"I think you recognize the seal well enough, Lady Tsunade." Itachi amended trying to calm the hot headed drunk woman in front of him.

"Also I would rather not get stabbed by your apprentice's poisoned senbon your grace, for I would have to retaliate and that is most certainly counterproductive to my mission." He continued not even sparing Shizune a glance as she gasps and drops the senbon she was inching towards possibly the most wanted man in fire country.

Tsunade narrowed her eyes and she spoke with gritted teeth, "Any chance you would like to share what exactly your mission entails?" She was never good at diplomatic talks, the blonde much preferred beating the snot out of her enemies, not fraternizing with the enemy over sake in the back of a bar. Remembering her alcohol, she took a deep swing, earning a wide eyed stare from Shizune and a chuckle from the raven murderer across from her.

"And here I thought we left all this diplomatic bullshit when we left the daimyo's palace." Tsunade muttered as she stared at the scroll in her hand.


	7. Chapter 7

Slamming her office door shut, Sakura threw her papers on her desk and crouched besides the person bleeding all over her couch. Green hands traveled to the man's chest and slowly he was being enveloped in the warm green chakra.

Two hours later, Shikamaru awoke to find his body healed and his tee shirt torn to shreds. Well his shirt tearing he remembers, the healing? Not so much. Shivering at the thought of his father's whip, he realised in his lap lay a woman with long pink hair fast asleep, blood still under her finger nails and speckled across the apples of her cheekbones. The red clashing with her creamy complexion.

...

Tsunade and Shizune were alone in their hotel room staring at the deceivingly innocent looking scroll on the desk across the small room. Not sure what the right thing to do is. Eventually Shizune asked why lady Tsunade refused to open the scroll.

"The seal on the scroll is familiar .. To me." Tsunade said carefully vague. She looked at her only apprentice, and then looked at the floor. Her honey eyes were no longer honey but plain brown and her long blonde twin tails receded until just before the nape of her neck.

Shizune was shocked she had been a faithful student of the great Tsunade for four years had never ever seen her mentor transform and was speechless.

"The monkey the one who sealed this scroll is my sensei, otherwise known as the the third hokage."


	8. Chapter 8

Shizune was very unnerved. Tsunade lowering her beauty jutsu shows just how how worried her mentor was. Shizune had been with the great sannin for almost three decades and had never ever seen her true form. She didn't see anything weird about the scroll. It didn't appear cursed or trapped in any way, the only thing is the seal wasn't circular but it was artfully drawn laterally across the edge of the page, the old way. She looked at her mentor but quickly averted her eyes, she just didn't feel comfortable seeing the great Sannin... So bare. Shizune had seen the busty woman naked but this was different. She stood and walked over to the scroll. The ornate seal appeared to be a monkey hanging on a vine. The curly vine is what ran along the edge of the paper sealing it shut.

Shikamaru sighed internally, conflicted on what exactly should he tell Sakura when she awoke. He didn't know which would be worse.. lying or telling the truth. Could he look in her emerald eyes and lie? Well he looked down at the pinkette, at the blood, his blood on her face. He looked away and studied her office searching for an answer. He saw lot of paperwork and regrettably some he messed up. He had crashed into her desk coming thru the window. Speaking of the window he noticed a bloody imprint on her window frame and on the curtains. Kami he bled alot. He almost sighed out loud before remembering the comrade currently in his lap. He looked at the doctor. Really looked at her. She had bags under her eyes that didn't look like smudged make up. Her hair was getting long again, her tidy bun had somehow unraveled making her have a wavy pink ponytail down almost to her elbows. The style reminded him of his blonde teammate, the one his scorpions told were rumoured to be his fiancée soon. He frowned and unknowingly tensed. Causing a certain pinkette to stir.

Sakura quickly found her bearings and quickly leapt up.

Shikamaru groaned and was about to mutter troublesome but froze when he felt hands on his chest. She was fast. Already in doctor mode Sakura sent her chakra into his chest her hands green. Puzzled her hands glowed purple before fading. Her analysis said he was fully healed. Green eyes moved from her hands to his face and looked into her patient's eyes.

Shikamaru was highly aware of how close the pinkette was to him. She was very fast and it took him off guard. Thats what he kept telling himself was the reason he couldn't move. It had nothing to do with her on her knees between his legs hands on his chest, eye level to him since he was sitting up on her couch.

"Troublesome..." Shikamaru finally grumbled.

Inner Sakura had never laughed harder in her life.

"Baka he was groaning at the situation not in pain you healed him fully!"

Turning red, fully humiliated by the laughter in her head she once again retreated away from the brunette.

"You know.. if I didn't know any better I would say you just wanted to be in the Nara's lap!" Teased inner still giggling.

Shoving the annoying voice out of her head, Sakura addressed Shikamaru.

"You had severe deep lacerations all along the entirety of you back and also several that criss cross on your sides."

Shikamaru sighed outwardly this time.


End file.
